Hope for the Whole World

Loving Heavenly Father! Because we are here together to rejoice that for us Thy dear Son has become man and our brother, we beseech Thee from our hearts to tell us Thyself what great grace, benefits, and help Thou hast prepared for us all in Him.

Open Thou our ears and our understanding that we may perceive that in Him there is forgiveness for all our sins, the germ and power of a new life, comfort and exhortation for life and for death, hope for the whole world. Create Thou within us the good spirit of freedom humbly and boldly to approach Thy Son, who now comes to us.

Grant that today in the whole of Christendom and the world many may be enabled to break through all the outward vanity of these holidays and to celebrate with us a good Christmas. Amen.

--Karl Barth, Selected Prayers, trans. Keith R. Crim. Richmond: John Knox Press, 1965, p. 17.